Two men convicted in connection with the murder of Det Garda Jerry McCabe have lost their Supreme Court appeal against their imprisonment.
Michael O'Neill was sentenced to a total 11 years for the manslaughter of Det McCabe, the malicious wounding of Det Garda Ben O'Sullivan at Adare, Co Limerick on June 7th, 1996 and possession of firearms for the purpose of a robbery at the same location.
John Quinn received a six-year sentence for conspiracy to commit robbery at the same location. Both were held at Castlerea Prison but Quinn was recently released having served his sentence.
They appealed to the Supreme Court in January, having lost a High Court action in 2002 in which they claimed they were entitled to release under the terms of Belfast Agreement.
But the Supreme Court supported the High Court finding and today Dr Michael Forde SC for the two men attempted to have the finding overruled.
He told the court his clients were discriminated against by Government policy relating to their case when others had been released in similar circumstances.
He said the State had not indicated any reason for the discrimination and that the Supreme Court had made an error in fact when it found their cases differed from others in that their convictions were secured after the Belfast Agreement was signed.
But in giving the five-member panel's ruling, Chief Justice Mr Ronan Keane said there were clear principles governing the terms under which the Supreme Court could vacate a judgement. "This case is not remotely in the bounds of exceptional circumstances," said Mr Justice Keane